Living Pains: Karin
by Xada91
Summary: Some say there are two sides to every story. This is an under statement, which anyone can easily see. There are more than two people involved in these stories, so it follows that there would be more than two sides. This is the story of Karin the Hedgehog.
1. Intrusion

A/N: Karin's point of view during Living Pains. Before Shadow's story, and a little bit during.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Living Pains: Karin

Chapter 1: Intrusion

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"Karin!" The yellow hedgehog cringed as her boss yelled her name. He stood with his hands on his hips, leaning towards her to show how serious he was.

"Yes sir?" He frowned at her less-than-respectful tone.

"We need more help upfront." He pointed to the register. With a sigh she walked to the indicated machine. She hated using the register; it never seemed to work for her._ Why doesn't he hire someone else?_ She thought in annoyance. However, since he could easily fire her, she did as she was told.

After she had stood there for several minutes without a single customer, she decided her boss simply wanted to annoy her. She began to contemplate taking another break when Amy walked into the store, wearing her uniform. _Thank goodness._ She thought, relieved at her friends presence. _At least I won't be bored now._

"Amy! Join Karin at the register!" Their boss seemed to take pity on the poor hedgehog. Amy waved to Karin when she reached the counter.

"Hey Karin!" She called cheerfully.

"Amy." They chatted for several minutes until the subject turned to the pink hedgehog's upcoming sleepover.

"You are coming right?" She pleaded.

"I don't know." Karin was not into the whole 'sleepover' thing.

"Please, please, pleeeease?!" Amy whined, easily wearing down Karin's resolve.

"Alright, alright." She smiled. "No boys right?"

"Yep! Shadow won't even be there." She said cheerfully as she checked the change for a customer.

"Shadow? Who's that?" Karin could not remember her ever talking about him.

"My housemate." She straightened her skirt. She noticed her friends puzzled look. "What?"

"You live with a guy?" Was he her boyfriend? _I thought she was obsessed with that Sonic guy._

"Not like that! He's just a really good friend. My heart belongs to Sonic!" Her eyes shone with joy. "Oh! That reminds me." She pulled he phone out and entered a number. After a few rings an angry voice answered.

"What?! Rose is that you? Call me back later. Hey drop the turkey or lose your hand!" There was the sound of a scuffle and then a yelp. "Alright, much better. Now what did you need?" There was more noise on the other end. Karin shot Amy an alarmed look that she waved off. "Make it quick Rose; this jerk keeps trying to steal our Thanksgiving dinner out of the cart."

"Shadow the sleepover's tonight so don't forget!" She called into the phone. There was some noise they couldn't make out then the guy yelled something about a clever and someone's innards. Amy finally hung up in frustration.

"Was that?"

"Yeah. I think he's having a bad day." She said as she turned to help another customer.

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After work the girls went to Amy's house for the sleepover. As they waited for the others to show up Amy gave Karin a tour of the apartment. It was cleaner than she expected since a guy lived there. She spotted a room off to the side which she questioned Amy about.

"That's Shadow's room. You wanna see?" She skipped over to the door and opened it. Inside it was all black and red, with a darkly colored wooden bookcase and desk. "I picked the colors out myself." She proclaimed happily. Karin blinked at her surprised. All she ever wore was bright colors, mostly pink, red, and blue.

"Why?"

"He would have left it the way it was." She laughed to herself. "I couldn't make him sleep in a pink room." The yellow hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Come here." She walked to the desk where a few pictures stood. She handed Karin one. In it were three hedgehogs, an old, grey hedgehog with a large mustache and dark blue eyes. _I doubt that's him._ The next was a black hedgehog with red stripes on his head quills and cold crimson eyes._ Yeah that's probably him._ She looked at the last figure in the picture. She was a beautiful, pale yellow hedgehog with large, pure blue eyes that sparkled.

"Who're those two?" Karin pointed to the old guy and the girl. Amy smiled sadly.

"The old guy is Shadow's grandfather."

"And the girl?" Karin asked tapping the picture lightly. She shook her head.

"I shouldn't talk about her, it's personal." She set the picture back on the dresser carefully. "Now come on! Tonight isn't about sad stories." She pulled Karin out of the room by the hand before she could ask the 'sad stories'.

* * *

At one a.m. the girls decided to go to bed. Karin and Amy set the blankets and pillows out. They lay down and put a romance movie on. Amy just couldn't sleep without watching at least one. When the movie was about half over Rouge said she heard a noise. They muted the TV and waited. When a large silhouette walked into the room next to Karin, she screamed.

"Robber! Call the cops!" She yelled as the lights flipped on. She grabbed a nearby chair and swung it into the intruder's head. Looking down at him she realized it was the younger guy from the picture.

"Shadow! Are you okay?" Amy asked kneeling next to him.

"Rose." He glared at her. "This is the third time this month I've been knocked to the ground walking into my own home." He growled, climbing to his feet unsteadily.

"You didn't answer my question." She said sounding slightly annoyed. He looked past her at us. _He's kinda cute._ Karin thought to herself.

"Who are all these people?" He glared at Rouge. "And why is _she_ here?"

"We're having a slumber party remember? I called to remind you like eight times today." Karin didn't remember her calling him more than once at work. He looked at her, seeming for all the world to have just solved some great mystery of life.

"Oh, that's what you were trying to say." He said nodding. "Okay, I'll bunk with Knuckles for the night." He said walking out the door. "Goodnight Rose."

"Jerk!" Amy yelled as the door closed. Karin looked at the floor to see several bags of groceries.

"I'll just put these away." She said grabbing them. Amy grabbed some from her and together we started putting them away in the kitchen. "Hey Amy?" Karin ventured when we finished, the others having gone back to the movie.

"Yeah?" She asked from the fridge as she looked for something to drink.

"That was Shadow right?"

"Yeah." She said absentmindedly.

"He's kinda cute." The yellow hedgehog said quietly. She squeaked and dropped the milk jug to the floor. Luckily it didn't open up.

"What was that?" She said smiling.

"Never mind." She said quickly, realizing her mistake. Amy Rose was a world class gossip.

"You think Shadow's cute! I can't wait to tell him!" She practically cackled with glee.

"Promise me you won't." Karin was horrified by the idea of her telling him that.

"If doesn't have a girlfriend by his birthday, which you are now invited to by the way, I'm telling him a girl thinks he's cute." She grinned. "If he's interested, then I'll tell him it's you." Karin thought this over before nodding. She figured a guy that cute would definitely have a girlfriend in no time.

"Just, don't tell him I hit him with a chair." Amy laughed at that. Karin didn't see what was so funny.

"Don't worry, he's used to it." Amt giggled to herself. The two girls made their way back to the living room and settled down for the night.

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A/N: Lifted almost directly from Karin's Diary, which will be deleted. And I might just add the Alternate Ending onto Living pains. Neat.


	2. Embarrassing Situations

A/N: In celebration of Living Pains being a year old, I wish you all a happy Living Pains Day.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Living Pains: Karin

Chapter 2: Embarrassing Situations

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"So?" Amy surprised Karin by wrapping her arms around the yellow hedgehog. Karin glanced at her friend over her shoulder. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"What? Amy I don't have time for this." Karin shrugged the pink hedgehog off. Amy pouted sullenly.

"You're coming to Shadow's birthday right? You said you would in August." She reminded, cracking a grin at Karin.

"Actually I remember you telling me I'm going. And every day since then." She placed the pile of clothes she was holding. "So, tomorrow?" Karin paused, thinking about Shadow. She blushed lightly when she thought about how she had hit him. She hoped he would not hold that against her. Or remember it at all, Amy had said he was used to head injuries. She sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I'll be there."

"Yes!" Amy grabbed her into a hug.

"But, you had better not tell him I'm the one that thinks he's cute." Karin said with finality. Amy Rose had a tendency to give out more information than was necessary. "Remember, you said you would tell a girl thought that, not me." Amy let go and pouted at her friend.

"I just know he won't believe me if I don't tell him your name."

"Good, I'll tell him if I feel like. Please don't embarrass me." Karin glanced at the clock. "I've got to go, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"You had better be there Karin." The pink hedgehog grinned. "If not, I'll give him your number." The yellow hedgehog blushed and gave her friend a glare.

"Bye Amy." She told the manager that she was leaving and made her way out the door. Unlike most days, she ignored the other stores in the mall and made her way directly to the front entrance. She made it to her car when her phone began to ring. She frowned at the device as she pulled it from her pocket. "Hey Ser."

"Well hello Karin, how's it going?" Karin's frown deepened.

"Are you drunk again?"

"No, I wanted to know, are you free tomorrow?" Karin sighed in irritation.

"Sorry, I'm going to a birthday party."

"Really? Who's?"

"Amy's roommate. I think she's trying to set us up." She unlocked her car door and sat behind the wheel.

"Oh really? What's his name?"

"Shadow." Karin flinched when there as a loud clatter on the other end. "Hello?"

"S-sorry. What was that?" The yellow hedgehog blinked.

"What was what?"

"His name, what was his name?" Karin was worried by the shock in the hawk's voice.

"Shadow, Shadow the Hedgehog." She switched the phone to her other ear as she started the car. "Why? Do you know him?"

"No, just I have this friend that…uh, listen I have to go, call you later, bye!"

"Wait Ser, what's-?" She was cutoff by a loud click. Karin stared at her phone, confused. She shrugged and shifted into drive. "This is not my week."

_

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_

The next day…

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Karin sighed as she stepped out of her car. She had been dreading this all day. It was a short walk to Amy's building, she used the time to calm her nerves and admire the scenery. It had snowed sporadically throughout the day, leaving a light coating on the ground. She shivered against the cold, pulling her coat for the scant warmth it provided. She supposed it could have been worse, she could have done something really embarrassing. Or he could have wandered into the store looking for Amy anytime in the last four months. She swallowed when she made it to the entrance. She could either walk inside and try to avoid him throughout the entire party, or she could go home and hope he decided not to call her. She was undecided until it occurred to her that Amy would pester him until he did call.

"Definitely not my week." She said with a sigh and made her way into the building. All she could hope was that she would not embarrass herself in front of Shadow again. She glanced at the elevator and glared at the out of order sign on it. Now she had to climb the stairs to a party she did not want to even got to. She promised herself she would have a serious talk with Amy when this was all over. She climbed the stairs slowly, trying to take as long as possible. She glanced at the entrance when she heard the door open. She saw a brief flash of black as her foot slipped off the next step. She screamed as she tumbled down the stairs, colliding with a dark blur. He first thought was that she was cursed. Her second quickly faded as she realized the blur had been a male hedgehog. And that they were kissing. She opened her eyes to see crimson ones staring back at her, surprise evident in them. Out of shear shock she pulled back from him and slapped him in the face.

"I'm really, really sorry! I was on my way to my friend's apartment! She lives on the third story and I tripped and fell and…and…" She blushed a deep scarlet and her eyes opened in shocked recognition. "You're Shadow the Hedgehog aren't you?" _So much for not embarrassing myself again._

"Yeah." He shot her a look. "How do you know my name?"

"I-I'm Amy's f-friend Karin." She stuttered. _Stop stuttering! He must think I'm an idiot. _She thought furiously.

"Well then in that case, I say we pretend this never happened. Agreed?" She was taken aback for a moment before smiling. "Good. Now come on, I'll walk you to the apartment." With that he calmly began walking up the stairs. Karin paused before grinning and fell into step beside him.

"So how do you know Amy?" Karin asked as they reached the second floor.

"She tackled me." He saw the look she gave him and chuckled. "She thought I was Sonic."

"…How? He's blue!" She was dumbfounded by how blind the girl must be.

"No idea. She says the sun was in her eyes." He looked at her. "We were at the beach. What about you? How do you know her?"

"We work together."

"You both work at Pinkness, Inc.? You're not even wearing a skirt." She wrinkled her nose at that.

"I sell those all day long, and wear them as my uniform. Why would I wear one on my day off?" Shadow glanced up as they neared the apartment.

"Here we are." Shadow said as they reached the door. He unlocked it and saw that the lights were out. "Huh, weird. Amy must not be home." He walked in and turned on the lights. Karin followed close behind, not wanting to bump into anything.

"SURPRISE!" A large group of people yelled while jumping out of hiding places. Karin screamed and grabbed Shadow's arm. She had forgotten that this was to be a surprise party. The room was decorated in bright colors and a large banner proclaimed "Happy Birthday Shadow!" in large red and black letters. Her attention was caught by a bright flash. She looked over and saw a white bat that she had seen at the store with Amy a few times.


End file.
